I am very sad...

I am SOO sad to hear that the lack of shopping downtown has already taken away some of my favorite stores and businesses. According to a new story from TheCoastalSource, over 20 businesses have closed on Broughton Street in the last year... Some of my favorites are now being added to that list - @Home, Vanilla Day Spa, and DAC.

One bright spot, apparently almost 30 new businesses have OPENED on Broughton in the last year!! Let's continue to support these fabulous businesses such as Bungalow/Glow, Cherry Picked, and SeeJane.



http://www.thecoastalsource.com/news/local/story/Gym-and-Spa-Close-on-Broughton-Street/nLs3B6DnLEKixSeDkTwGvw.cspx?rss=1669

www.123lawsuitsloans.com

Rules of the Resolution...

After much, much consideration, here are the rules that I have set forth for my 2010 local shopping adventure:

• Any retail item that I purchase MUST come from a locally owned business in Savannah
• The one exception is food - I don't think it's feasible to purchase all my groceries/baby food/meals from local places since I have a 7 month old and commute 30 minutes from Richmond Hill. Don't hate me foodies - I PROMISE I will do my very best to only eat out at locally owned restaurants, and I intend to frequent Brighter Day as much as I can.
  
• The ONLY other exception is that I am occasionally allowed to make a purchase from a national business IF it is located on Broughton Street in downtown Savannah. This includes my beloved Baby Gap, and I have decided that downtown could not thrive without our small selection of great national retailers such as Marc Jacobs, Banana Republic, and Gap. They (and their employees) need our support, too! :)
  

That's it!! Every shoe, lipstick, shampoo, skirt, couch, lamp, baby toy, gift, jewelry, etc that I purchase in 2010 WILL be from a local business. I am pumped!!

My new year's resolution...

This all began while we were putting on a fashion show for the Junior League of Savannah in early December. The show was fantastic, and one of our models, favorite customer, and good friend Meta Adler truly inspired me with just one conversation. She was wearing not one, but two pairs of GORGEOUS shoes of her own in the show. I was dying to know where she purchased them, and I was assuming she would say Saks or Bergdorf's. Instead, she responded "Globe! I drove by and saw them and just had to have them! They have the best selection." Her tan Stewart Weitzman shoes are shown here. Wow, here I was with a pair of Miu Miu flats sitting in my shopping cart on saks.com (couldn't close the deal and now I know why), and this fabulous girl from Savannah truly was buying everything locally!

Our conversation continued onto the lack of traffic on Broughton in Savannah during a season which should be bustling, and Meta said "I just don't understand why people don't realize that the only way to keep good shopping in Savannah is to buy from stores like yours." It hit me like a ton of bricks... I am no different from any other customer falling prey to the convenience of online shopping or the deep discounts of national retailers. How hypocritical of me to wonder where our local customers are if I am spending all my money at Saks, PotteryBarn, Sephora, and Nordstrom!

We have SO many unbelievable options for any kind of retail shopping here in Savannah, and they are owned by hard working, creative, passionate people who deserve to keep their business (as well as the future of our city!) going! I promptly marched into Globe shoes (which I have to admit is RIGHT next door to BleuBelle Bridal where I work every day!), and not only did they have a better selection of shoes than what I had seen online, their service was impeccable. They knew exactly which shoes Meta had purchased, and sold me two pairs that were very similar to styles from Louboutin and Tory Burch that I had been eyeing online!! See the Cole Haan Wedges to the left - so stylish and comfy.

I knew then exactly what I needed to do. My new year's resolution for 2010 is that ANY retail item that I purchase in 2010 has got to be from a local business. I have worked out a list of rules that I will strictly follow, and I will keep you all posted with how easy or difficult this journey will be! I will lay out these rules in posts to come...